Beets are a polarizing topic, but even if you are team no-beets, I encourage you to give them another chance. These aren’t the pickled beets from your childhood. Learning to love those was a hard road, but these are different. Instead of sharp and tangy, these are rich, earthy and savoury.

Besides, chopping beets is the best excuse to make all of the jokes about getting caught red-handed.

Makes about 6-8 servings (as a side dish)

Ingredients:

• 3 large beets
• 1 tbsp olive oil (for roasting beets)
• 1/8 tsp salt (for beets)
• 1 small can mandarin orange segments in juice (not syrup)
• 1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 tbsp olive oil (for dressing)
• pinch of salt (for dressing)
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

Directions:

1. Look down. Are you wearing white? If so, go change. Beets are irresistibly drawn to white clothing.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees f
3. Peel beets and slice into disks about 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) thick
4. Toss beets with olive oil and salt and spread out on cookie sheet
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, flipping halfway through – a fork inserted into the middle of the beets should go in easily and the edges should be starting to crisp – once the beets are cooked set aside to cool
6. Drain the canned oranges and reserve the juice
7. While the beets are roasting, prepare the dressing. The easiest way to do this is to put the olive oil (1 tbsp), salt (pinch, to taste), balsamic vinegar (1 tsp), orange juice (2 tsp) thyme leaves (1 tsp) and mustard (1/2 tsp) in a jar and shake well – taste and see if it needs any adjustments
8. Arrange the beets on a platter, then sprinkle with as many orange pieces as you would like and the crumbled feta cheese
9. Pour dressing over everything and dig in!

Notes:

• You may find there are more oranges in the can than you need, just save the rest for something else
• This will last in the fridge for a couple of days, but the feta cheese will go very quickly from white to a cheerful bright pink. If this isn’t the look you are going for, just save the feta cheese to add right before serving.